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“A terrific read”
“It’s a terrific read and is certain to rekindle an awe for the character of Christ.”
George Brahm
“An amazing read. … It’s encouraged my trust in the goodness of Christ”
This book has been an amazing read so far. Endorsed by Lee Strobel and Eric Metaxas! It’s encouraged my trust in the goodness of Christ.
Brian Adachi
“Fresh perspective. … Apologetics that made me want to worship”
Tom Gilsontakes a fresh perspective that makes this the first work of apologetics that made me want to worship [Jesus]. … There are plenty of books that defend the reliability of the Gospels by looking at historical evidence or examining skeptical objections. Gilson does a bit of an end-around and shows that the person of… Tom Gilsontakes a fresh perspective that makes this the first work of apologetics that made me want to worship [Jesus]. … There are plenty of books that defend the reliability of the Gospels by looking at historical evidence or examining skeptical objections. Gilson does a bit of an end-around and shows that the person of Jesus isn’t like any other character in history or fiction. He does this by not just focusing on who Jesus is as presented in the New Testament, but what he didn’t do. And when you see that, you’ll realize that it’s a story too good to be false. Jesus just can’t be invented. SHOW MORE… ““Fresh perspective. … Apologetics that made me want to worship””
Erik Manning
“Is there really anything new to learn about Jesus?”
I read many great apologetics books about Jesus, but this one was truly very different. I didn’t walk away with a ton of facts and figures to memorize. Instead, I walked away with a renewed sense of awe for the person of Christ and some great logical points solidifying my faith that the Gospel stories… I read many great apologetics books about Jesus, but this one was truly very different.
I didn’t walk away with a ton of facts and figures to memorize. Instead, I walked away with a renewed sense of awe for the person of Christ and some great logical points solidifying my faith that the Gospel stories about Jesus are true. I would encourage all Christians to read this book to strengthen their faith. SHOW MORE… ““Is there really anything new to learn about Jesus?””
Jennifer DeFrates
Learning from what the Bible doesn’t say about Jesus!
I was fascinated by this book. Tom Gilson takes a novel and fresh approach by looking at what we can learn about Jesus from what actually “isn’t” said about Him in the Bible. There were a lot of “ah-ha” moments. I recommend reading this book to take a new and refreshing look at Jesus. He… I was fascinated by this book. Tom Gilson takes a novel and fresh approach by looking at what we can learn about Jesus from what actually “isn’t” said about Him in the Bible. There were a lot of “ah-ha” moments. I recommend reading this book to take a new and refreshing look at Jesus. He goes on with some apologetics that are well written and on point. I finished the book with a fresh amazement of the character of Jesus and how He lived on earth. Worth the read. SHOW MORE… “Learning from what the Bible doesn’t say about Jesus!”
LKB
“Simple, unique way to take a fresh look at Jesus of Nazareth”
This book takes a refreshing approach to examining the life and works of Jesus of Nazareth, one that he admits he “resurrected” from the past but has been lost to modern readers. This approach is to look at Jesus based on what He “didn’t say,” and what He “didn’t do,” rather than what He did… This book takes a refreshing approach to examining the life and works of Jesus of Nazareth, one that he admits he “resurrected” from the past but has been lost to modern readers. This approach is to look at Jesus based on what He “didn’t say,” and what He “didn’t do,” rather than what He did do and what He did say, which ends up being very refreshing and insightful! Every chapter has something that I found unique and interesting and had me taking a new look at the context of passages I’ve read over dozens of times to think it through from a different perspective.
The author also emphasizes Jesus’ own character and this also adds much to its force and lives up to the title! The book is written for believers and skeptics alike. I can wholeheartedly recommend this book without any hesitation or reservations, go ahead and “add to cart” now, you will thank yourself later! SHOW MORE… ““Simple, unique way to take a fresh look at Jesus of Nazareth””
Chan Arnett
Great for Every Christian
This book will pull you in and help you meditate on the beauty, majesty, and goodness of Jesus Christ.
Tim Arndt
“Gilson’s thesis is an amazing one”
Gilson’s thesis is an amazing one and I hope to see more engagement with it. It would be incredible to see what someone like Bart Ehrman would say to it. I hope it gets out in the world of academia all the more. … This is a book to be taken seriously by Christian and… Gilson’s thesis is an amazing one and I hope to see more engagement with it. It would be incredible to see what someone like Bart Ehrman would say to it. I hope it gets out in the world of academia all the more. …
This is a book to be taken seriously by Christian and skeptic alike. I look forward to seeing more that comes out concerning it. SHOW MORE… ““Gilson’s thesis is an amazing one””
Nick Peters
“Gilson’s approach reminded me of … G. K. Chesterton.”
Gilson’s approach reminded me of some arguments by the literary giant G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936). … [The] book is a refreshing new view of the most influential person of history. … Gilson convincingly rebuts the claim that the Gospel accounts are simply legends.
William Pelletier
“Totally shook me up — helped me to reopen my eyes to Jesus”
Jesus had become so familiar to me that I kind of forgot how amazing He really is. My mind has stopped registering how wonderful He really is. Of course I still love Him and acknowledge the gift of eternal life in heaven that He provided me. But the relationship end of knowing Jesus grows stale… Jesus had become so familiar to me that I kind of forgot how amazing He really is. My mind has stopped registering how wonderful He really is. Of course I still love Him and acknowledge the gift of eternal life in heaven that He provided me. But the relationship end of knowing Jesus grows stale because I tend to think I know all there is to know. … Too Good to Be False totally shook me up. This book helped me to reopen my eyes to how awe-inspiring and unbelievably wonderful my Savior is!
If you read nothing more of this book, read the first section of chapters under Greater Than You Ever Knew. As a Christian who has grown a little too used to Jesus and all the common phrases about Him, this section blew me away.
You will find yourself overwhelmed by how truly loving Jesus was, how His brilliance will forever go unmatched, how incredible his voice of authority changed the world, and much more. SHOW MORE… ““Totally shook me up — helped me to reopen my eyes to Jesus””
Amber (Blogger)
“Deftly and delightfully helps us reexamine Christ’s life and character”
Christ’s brilliance can become dulled by our familiarity with the Gospel accounts. Tom Gilson deftly and delightfully helps us reexamine Christ’s life and character by inviting us to look at what Jesus didn’t do. This fresh, invigorating approach reignited my passion to worship Christ and enabled me to understand His love in a much deeper,… Christ’s brilliance can become dulled by our familiarity with the Gospel accounts. Tom Gilson deftly and delightfully helps us reexamine Christ’s life and character by inviting us to look at what Jesus didn’t do. This fresh, invigorating approach reignited my passion to worship Christ and enabled me to understand His love in a much deeper, more profound and personal way.
Through highlighting the extraordinarily powerful and excellent character of Christ, and exposing the holes in skeptics’ theories about the credibility of the Jesus ‘story’, Tom Gilson takes the reader on a journey that ends in worship. Interestingly much of his case is made in what Jesus didn’t do which I found to be a rather… Through highlighting the extraordinarily powerful and excellent character of Christ, and exposing the holes in skeptics’ theories about the credibility of the Jesus ‘story’, Tom Gilson takes the reader on a journey that ends in worship. Interestingly much of his case is made in what Jesus didn’t do which I found to be a rather unique approach. By the end of the book and the epilogue, one is left standing in awe of Christ and searching her heart to see how best she can devote herself wholly to His worship and spreading the good news of Kingship. An interesting and thought-provoking read for Christians and skeptics alike. SHOW MORE… “Thought-provoking! Worship Inducing!”
Carla ET Lake
“Absolutely Brilliant!”
Tom Gilson’s masterpiece took everything I thought I knew about Jesus and turned it upside down! I didn’t think I could fall in love with Christ again but this book helped prove me wrong. Absolutely brilliant!
Rulonda JaBrey
“What an Eye-Opener”
Fascinating… Really interesting… Unique… A new angle a lot of us haven’t considered… What an eye-opener; it’s like looking at a multi-faceted diamond and seeing brilliance that you’d never seen before.
Janet Mefferd
A masterpiece of fresh scholarship on Jesus and the Gospels!
Tom Gilson’s new book, Too Good To Be False, is extraordinary, and probably groundbreaking with respect to the gospels! I exuberantly recommend it to everyone, whether you are a current follower of Jesus, a skeptic, or a devoted Muslim, etc. This book compellingly demonstrates that the character of Jesus is unsurpassed in all of… Tom Gilson’s new book, Too Good To Be False, is extraordinary, and probably groundbreaking with respect to the gospels! I exuberantly recommend it to everyone, whether you are a current follower of Jesus, a skeptic, or a devoted Muslim, etc. This book compellingly demonstrates that the character of Jesus is unsurpassed in all of literature. Not only unsurpassed, but also unsurpassable!
Gilson argues that no writer in history has ever created a character — fictional or true — with such unparalleled qualities of goodness, authority, leadership, brilliance, supernatural power, and self-sacrificial love all in one person. Normally the combination of great power with goodness in a person corrupts that person. But not Jesus. He alone possessed the virtue to exercise his irresistible power for the benefit of others only, and to restrain his power to save himself when his self-sacrificial death was the highest possible good for the people of the day. And not only for his contemporaries, but also for the salvation of all humanity from the dawn of the world to the present day. Any characters that seem comparable are modeled after the exemplar of Jesus, whether consciously or unconsciously.
Arranged in three parts, Too Good To Be False is superbly well-organized and footnoted. It is written with clear, engaging, and personalized prose, replete with anecdotes and analogies from the author’s own experience with the subject. Tom combines rich theological and devotional substance for the common believer with solid evidences and cogent logic for those troubled with doubts and the more ardent intellectual skeptics alike. And in chapter 9 he does not avoid the latter’s explicit challenges to the gospels’ authenticity (pp 107-123).
Indeed, one prominent strand of his argument that appears in part two of the book is that the gospels are enormously harmonious with each other. Gilson goes on to show that the only reasonable explanation for this is that from their own imaginations the gospel writers could not have created the character of Jesus that is consistent across the four gospels. He must have been real, and he must have been exactly the kind of man they reported him to be.
This is a book that I would readily give as a gift to everybody, including Muslims with whom I interface regularly. I say all this also from the lens of an adult Sunday school teacher. In my class I am currently teaching a series on the Gospels + Acts. I have introduced Too Good To Be False to my class as an exceptional resource, but it is well-worthy of being the primary text alongside the gospels themselves. Thankfully, Tom had that in mind when writing this masterpiece. In the appendix he has included a very helpful study guide for just that purpose.
Finally, I truly appreciate the Epilogue for Pastors, Teachers and Other Ministers (pp. 177-183). In it the author shines the spotlight on the New Testament book of Hebrews as a primary treatise on defending the Christian faith with reason and faith combined. Here is a quote from this epilogue:
The writer of Hebrews showed his readers “the matchless supremacy of Jesus Christ, and he did it through the use of persuasive reasoning. …He certainly didn’t think reasons were unnecessary. If he had he could have saved himself a lot of trouble, for he could have said everything that needed saying in the first four verses [text inserted here]. If reasons were unneeded, he could have [skipped right to the juicy theological parts about the new covenant and Jesus as High Priest]. He didn’t write it that way, though. Instead he presents a rational, reasoned case for believing Jesus was great enough to follow. …The writer laid out evidence and reasons to show them how they could know it was true. …This is the model, a model that today we call apologetics. …The letter took their [the Hebrew Christians’] knowledge and convictions as a starting point, then built layers of new knowledge and reasoning on top of it…that supply reasons for belief in Christ.” (underscores mine)
I heartily agree! So if you haven’t already, go to Amazon.com and get your own copy of Too Good To Be False. I think you will relish it as much as or more than I did.
– Scott Cherry SHOW MORE… “A masterpiece of fresh scholarship on Jesus and the Gospels!”
Remember the joy, the excitement, the life you experienced in Jesus, when you first started following Him for real? Are you wondering if it's starting to fade? Your heart's in the right place — you want to keep your first love. It's just starting to seem too familiar, though.
You're not alone. Even the Christians you look up to most may feel the same way, and more often than you'd think. Yet even the most experienced Christians can be surprised by Jesus all over again! Listen to some of them as they describe their own encounters with Christ through the book Too Good to be False: How Jesus' Incomparable Character Reveals His Reality:
Best-selling author Lee Strobel: "Engaging ... exhilarating ... This might be the most surprising and refreshing book you'll read this year."
Love, Respect, Worship
Talbot University distinguished professor J. P. Moreland:"I have never approached the gospels in this way and with Gilson's guidance, I have come to love, respect, and worship Jesus with renewed vigor and insight. Honestly this book must be in your library."
A Fun Read!
Liberty University distinguished professor Gary Habermas:"I may never before have made this comment in a recommendation, but this volume was a 'fun read.' I enjoyed it! Don’t get me wrong — Gilson’s responses hit the skeptical objections at which he aimed time-and-again, including many of the major complaints lodged against Jesus’ story."
Fresh Insights After Two Thousand Years
Author and speaker Dr. Frank Turek:Are you skeptical that anyone could present fresh insights about Jesus after two thousand years? Tom Gilson has done just that."
From Growing Stale to "Blew Me Away"!
Those are some of the experts' endorsements. What about the rest of us, though? Be encouraged by what a blogger named Amber wrote. First she described her early joy: "There was just no hiding how amazing Jesus was." But she'd been losing that close connection with Him:
As the years passed, that changed. Apathy has set in. Jesus has become so familiar to me that I kind of forget how amazing He really is.... Of course I still love Him and acknowledge the gift of eternal life in heaven that He provided me. But the relationship end of knowing Jesus grows stale because I tend to think I know all there is to know.
But then she read Too Good to be False, and it "totally shook me up," she says:
This book helped me to reopen my eyes to how awe-inspiring and unbelievably wonderful my Savior is! ... As a Christian who has grown a little too used to Jesus and all the common phrases, [Part 1 of the book] blew me away. You will find yourself overwhelmed by how truly loving Jesus was, how His brilliance will forever go unmatched, how incredible his voice of authority changed the world, and much more.
You can fall in love with Jesus again!
Not just that, but if you need to recover your assurance that His life, His message, His death and resurrection are true, that's in Too Good to be False, too. As best-selling author Eric Metaxas said, "Too Good to be False takes a fascinating look at the human character of Jesus, uncovering fresh insights for believers and skeptics to see that Jesus' story is not simply a story — it's truly, truly too good to be false.
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